Shaken
by IloveHarryPotter17
Summary: It's the little things Derek starts doing that makes Casey wonder what exactly is going on. Dasey.
1. Hallway

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Life with Derek

(although, if you wanted to give me Michael Seater, I wouldn't argue with you)

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Casey walked down the hallway, shifting her bag from one shoulder to the other. Usually, her eyes would be on the ground, making sure she didn't trip over anything, but today she was feeling confident enough to look around. She had gone shopping over the weekend and she was wearing the cute pink top she had bought as well as her brown suede ballet flats. Both items earned her a few compliments and Casey was feeling good.

She looked out at the faces of the people walking past her. Some girls giggled and chattered as they walked to class with their tote bags hanging from their shoulders. Guys walked down the hallway all nonchalant, sometimes nodding at a girl or saying "hey" to another guy. And others, like herself, walked alone, either trying to get to class as soon as possible or trying to find someone to talk to. She belonged to the latter group, but none of her friends shared her last class or her next class to walk with. And seeing how she was in the freshman hallway, none of her friends would be standing at the lockers to talk to.

A flier caught her eye that hung on the opposite side of the hallway. It was about some kind of charity the student government was raising money for. Then, she saw Derek walking with Sam. She caught Derek's eye and he looked at her. He didn't look away quickly, as if he were embarrassed, like he normally did when they were in a public place and that surprised her. It wasn't the _god she's hot _look she wished she got from guys though either. He just looked at her, and then they passed one another and she didn't dare look back at him.

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First of all, Happy New Year!!!

I got this idea in my head yesterday and I just wrote it. Don't worry, there'll be more. I'm kind of excited for it.

Title thanks to Shiny Toys Guns. It's the name of one of their songs.

Tell me what you think. Does Casey seem real? (I tried to think about what I think of when I walk down the hallways at my school) What do you think's gonna happen? Any scenarios you'd like to see?...etc etc...


	2. Dinner

"Casey, would you pass the butter?"

Casey immediately looked up at him and then at the butter dish that was to the left of her plate. She picked it up with her left hand and held it out in front of her. Derek reached out to grab it. His fingers touched hers and she quickly let go and pulled her hand back. Derek didn't have a grip on it and the butter dish fell to the table, spilling the contents of Derek's glass onto the table as the butter went flying onto his plate.

Casey's mouth hung open at what she had just done. "I-I'm sorry," she said quickly and she waited for the names and the complaints about his sopping wet turkey or buttery french fries.

Derek shrugged. "It's alright," he replied without a single drop of sarcasm or a look that contradicted his words. He picked up his napkin and soaked up the soda with it.

He didn't bring it up for the rest of the night, even when she accidentally turned the channel during his hockey game at the end of the third period.

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**I know it's short, but I don't see the need in making it really long and drawn out, I hate that. Anyways, not the next chapter, but the fourth chapter is longer. So please don't ask me to make them longer. **

**I'm pleased with this story so far, and I'm glad you guys seem to enjoy it as well. It makes me happy. Thanks for your awesome reviews, they make my day.****  
**


	3. Bathroom

Casey grabbed her pajamas and opened the door to her room. She stepped out into the hallway and as soon as she took two steps, Derek opened his door with pj's in hand.

"You're gonna take a shower?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Casey answered him.

"Oh, alright," Derek replied. He turned around and walked back into his room, closing the door behind him.

_That's it? _Casey thought. _No running to the bathroom first? No taunting, no insults? _She walked down the hallway to the bathroom. She carefully opened the bathroom door in case there was some sort of "surprise" Derek or Edwin had set up for the next person to enter the bathroom.

With the bathroom door completely open, Casey could see nothing wrong. She stepped inside and looked around. Nothing seemed to be wrong other than the fact that there were two towels laying on the floor, toothpast hardening in the sink, and a bottle of bodywash was slowly leaking onto the shelf in the shower. She closed the door and locked it behind her. Casey checked the shampoo and conditioner bottles before she got into the shower. You could never be too careful with them two. Everthing appeared to be alright, but then why was Derek acting so weird?


	4. Mall

"Mom, can I please have the car?" Casey begged her mom so she could get the black leggings that would complete her outfit for tomorrow.

"Can't you get them over the weekend?" Nora asked her as she picked up random items that were on the floor, like Marti's stuffed animals. "Lizzie, you're going to be late!" Nora yelled.

"Coming!" Lizzie's voice yelled back.

"George, can't you take me?" Casey pleaded.

"You know I would, but I can't. I have to take Marti to her dance class, Edwin to Martin's house for a project and then drive to the office to pick up some papers, all in the opposite direction of the mall," George said as he slipped his coat on. "Edwin! Let's go!"

Casey huffed as plopped down onto the couch. None of them understood that she had to look good tomorrow. She was presenting her poster on Chaucer in English, and she was already nervous, this delay in her plan wasn't a good omen in Casey's book. She would have to wear something that everyone had already seen her in, and that wasn't half as exciting as getting a new outfit and being able to show it off in the form of a presentation.

"I'm sorry Casey," Marti said with her purple jacket on and dance bag in her hands. "I can get Chicken for you if you need him," Marti offered.

"I'll be alright Marti, thanks," Casey told her with a hint of a real smile at being offered Marti's stuffed alligator for comfort.

"If you want, I can take you," Derek's voice said from behind her. Casey sat up and turned around.

"Really?" Casey and Nora asked at the same time.

Derek shrugged. "I was going to go to F.Y.E. and get the new Foo Fighters' CD anyways."

"Oh. Okay," Casey accepted. "Let me go get my purse."

"Alright, I'll be out in the car," he told her. He turned around and walked out of the room. Casey quickly ran upstairs to her room. She put on her coat and grabbed her purse. She walked downstairs and out to Derek's car where he was waiting for her.

She opened up the passenger door and got in. "Are you ready?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she replied as she put her seatbelt on.

He backed out of the little driveway and then they were on their way. Derek switched the radio on, and Casey was grateful. It was loud enough that it would've been hard to talk.

In fifteen minuted they were at the mall. They both got out and walked into the mall. After the double doors closed behind them, they turned to face one another.

"What store are you going to?" Derek asked her.

"Charlotte Russe," Casey replied.

"I'm going to FYE and then I'll meet you at Charlotte Russ after I'm done."

"It's Charlotte _Russe_," Casey corrected him.

"Russe. Okay?"

Casey nodded. "Okay." She watched him walk away in the direction of his store. Casey walked past a few stores on the right side of the mall. She walked into the store and was immediately greeted by a salesgirl. Casey said hello back and quickly walked to the back of the store where she had seen the leggings. She searched the wall of leggings for the right size and and color. She found the ones that she wanted and then walked to the middle of the store. She browsed throughout the necklaces and earrings, all of them a little to gaudy and plastic for her taste. Casey turned her attention to the hair accessories. She rolled her eyes at a bright blue headband with ruby red plastic jewels on it. Then she saw a simple black headband. She picked it off of the metal hanger and examined it. It wasn't too skinny of a headband, nor was it extremely wide like the bright blue one. It was soft and she kind of liked it. _Should I get it? I don't really need it...but it would look so good with my outfit tomorrow..._

"Hey Case."

Casey looked up at the sound of his voice. "Hello Derek."

"Are you getting that too?" he asked, motioning to the headband in her hand.

"Uh...yeah I am," Casey decided. "I think I'm done here." She walked to the counter where other salesgirl was standing.

Casey put the leggings and the headband on the counter. "Did you find everything okay?" the girl asked her with an obviously fake smile. She didn't seem to be enjoying her job very much.

"I did," Casey replied.

The girl rung up Casey's items. "It's $15.50," she said as she put the headband and leggings into a little plastic bag.

Casey took her purse off of her shoulder and opened it up. Her stomach dropped as she realized that her wallet was in her other brown purse. She dug through her purse trying to look nonchalant as her mind reeled. What was she supposed to do? This was so humiliating. She closed her purse, and looked at the counter top, not daring to look the salesgirl in the eye. "I...uh..." she stumbled on her words, not quite knowing how to say she didn't have any money to pay.

Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw Derek stick his arm out. She looked up and saw him handing the girl twenty dollars. The girl took it and punched the numbers into the cash register and handed him his change, "$4.50 is your change. Thank you and have a good night," she said as she held out the bag to Casey. Casey took the bag and followed Derek out of the store.

As soon as she was sure that no one in Charlotte Russe could hear, she said, "Thanks Derek. I'll pay you back as soon as we get home."

"Don't worry about it," Derek replied casually as they walked through the doors outside.

Casey quickly bit her tongue from telling him that she would pay him back when the thought crossed her mind that it might make him angry. She had almost expected him to say something about being paid back in front of the salesgirl, but he didn't. "Thank you," she said as she opened up the passenger door.

"You're welcome."

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So in chapter two, I made a mistake. Hockey does not have four quarters, it has three periods as SpencerReidFan89 pointed out to me, so I would just like to thank her and I fixed it. 

Did you like this chapter? I think it'd be so cute if a boy ever did that for me. (Y'know in the off-chance that I would actually ever forget something like my wallet)

True Life Facts:

-I really do like the Foo Fighters

-I walked into Charlotte Russe about two weeks ago and was like "woah, this store is pretty cool"

-I hate those ugly rhinestone things that seem to be on everything. They are gaudy and ugly. Thank god Casey has better taste.

-I like knowing what you think about this story

Until next time dears...


	5. Bedroom

Emily entered Casey's room and sat down on her bed with her back resting against the headboard. Casey closed the door. She walked over to her stereo and pressed play. She adjusted the volume so that it could be heard from the hallway but it wouldn't be hard to talk over it. She walked to her bed and sat down facing Emily. She took a deep breath, but didn't say anything because she didn't know how crazy Emily was going to think she was.

"Is something wrong?" Emily asked her, with obvious concern in her eyes.

"Not exactly..." Casey murmured. She took another breath. "Okay, listen. Derek's been acting really strange lately. He's been acting...well..._nice_. To _me_."

Emily shook her head, not understanding. "So?"

"Em, he's never nice to me. He looks at me in the halls, he asks me to pass him things at dinner and he even drove me to the mall," Casey told her. She continued, "When I dropped the butter the other night, he didn't even make a comment about it. He said that it wasn't a big dea. And last night, he took me to the mall and I didn't have any money and he paid for my leggings and this headband."

"So he's being nice to you. Shouldn't you welcome it?"

"But it's so strange!" Casey exclaimed. "I don't know what to do."

"Accept it?" Emily said. "You've always wanted him to be nice to you, I don't get it."

"Yes, but now he's being overly nice. I think something's up with him," she confessed.

"Casey, you're going to have to help me out more because I have no idea what you're getting at."

"I think-" Casey took a deep breath and prayed that Emily wouldn't think she was crazy or vain "-that Derek likes me."

Emily nodded. "Yeah."

Casey raised an eyebrow.

And then Emily's eyebrows shot up and her mouth opened and she got it. "You think Derek's got a crush on you!?" Emily exclaimed.

"Shhhh!" Casey panicked. "Be quiet!"

"Casey, just because he did a few nice things for you doesn't mean-" Emily started but Casey cut her off.

"I know Em. If it were any other person I'd think they were just being nice but this is Derek. He's done so many things to me that this is the only reason why he would be nice to me."

"Why would he start liking you now?" Emily asked her, still unconvinced that Derek had a crush on Casey like she claimed.

Casey shrugged, "I don't know. I wish I knew. I wish I knew what to do. I want to know for sure if he likes me or not."

"What's that going to do? You're step-siblings."

"I know," Casey groaned. "But it would just make me feel better if I knew."

"How are you going to find out?"

"I don't know."

"Well, it's not like you can just ask him. That would be incredibly awkward," Emily said.

"I wish I could, it would just make things so much easier."

"Case, I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but I don't think Derek likes you," Emily said softly.

"You don't know that," Casey retorted. "I thought you would understand. But I was wrong."

"Casey, I have to get home," Emily told her. "Good luck with Derek." Emily got up and left Casey's room, closing the door behind her.

_Some best friend she is. She can't even pretend to be interested or happy. She's probably just jealous. _

Casey picked up a pillow and hugged it to her chest. Maybe she should just ask Derek how he felt about her, without him knowing what she really wanted to hear.

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**I hope you guys are all feeling good. 'Cause I know I am. I got into my first choice for college!! I'm so incredibly excited. And d'you know what else I'm excited about??? The next chapter. Any guesses as to what's going to happen? Look for it Tuesday!**


	6. Bedroom II

**I'm sorry. I told you guys that I would update yesterday, but I wasn't able to. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the next chapter will be the last. I might write a sequel though. How does that sound?**

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Casey laid on her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had no real motivation to do anything. It was one of those Saturdays where she didn't have any obligations and she didn't feel like moving from her bed.Her mom had asked her if she wanted to go out, but getting Edwin new shoes and Lizzie shin guards with Marti running off every two seconds was not her idea of a good Saturday so she declined.

She let her mind wander, but as it always seemed to these days, it ended up on Derek. More specifically, if he liked her. It gnawed at her. She felt like she had to know. Casey liked to be on top of things and in control, but with this she felt like she had no control because nothing was definite.

It all came back to how she would find out. He probably wouldn't tell Sam because Sam had gone out with her. There's no way he would tell anyone else if he couldn't tell Sam and he would never willingly admit it to her, she was sure of that.

_I should just ask him myself, _she thought. Then it struck her. She should do just that. There would be no middleman, and no one else had to know that she even thought of it if he didn't. She and Derek were the only ones home with everyone else out on their shopping expedition so no one else could possibly overhear them. Was she really going to do this. _Yes. Just do it. You'll feel better even if he doesn't. Besides it's probably better that he doesn't since you don't like him and you're step-siblings. Just do it now. Get it off your chest _she told herself. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed. She stood up slowly then went over to her mirror to make sure she looked okay. She was wearing a pink cami and blue skinny jeans. Her hair was down and a little wavy because she didn't bother doing anything with it when she got out of the shower this morning.

She took a deep breath and walked out of her room. She felt her hands shaking a little and her brain told her hands to stop. There was no reason to be nervous. It was just Derek. She wasn't nervous. There was no reason for it at all.

When she reached his door, she hesitated. What was she going to say? _Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. _She told herself. She lifted her arm up to knock on his door, but then stopped herself. If she knocked he would know it was her and would tell her to go away. Instead she placed her still-trembling hand on his doorknob and turned it. She pushed the door open slowly and walked inside.

Derek immediately looked up from his computer and jumped up. "C-Casey, what are you doing here?" he asked her in a tone that said he obviously was afraid of getting caught. Had this been before, she would demand that she see what was on his computer but she found she could barely breathe, let alone worry about his computer. Slowly, she walked towards him and he didn't move an inch. Their eyes locked and Casey felt something. She walked closer and stood before him. Her heart was pounding and she just wanted to turn and run out of his room into the safety of her own, but she had come this far. She couldn't turn back now.

"Derek," she said softly, her eyes cast downwards at her feet, "do you like me?" She looked up and her eyes met his. She silently pleaded with him not to make a joke out of her and not ask her exactly what she meant. If he made her say the words, she knew she wouldn't be able to.

Derek's eyebrows furrowed together and his face contracted into a look of disgust. "Of course not," he responded.


	7. Bedroom III

Her heart dropped into her stomach and she quickly looked away from his face. "Alright," she quavered. She backed up and sneaked a glance at his computer. It was just a word document, but he saw her look and stepped to his left, blocking her view. She turned around and walked out of his room, closing the door behind her. Her legs felt like they would collapse underneath her any second. Casey carefully walked back to her room, keeping close to the wall in case her legs really did give out. When she reached her door and went to push it open, she realized that her hand was trembling more than it had been before. She shut her door and collapsed onto her bed.

She felt drained, physically and mentally, although she hadn't done anything all day. Why was this affecting her? _I don't care. I'm glad really. He's my step-brother. He's rude, arrogant, thought-less, greedy, and revengeful. I could never really like him. Plus, he doesn't like me. _No matter what she told herself in her head though, the feeling that her chest was constricting wouldn't stop.

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Well, that's the end of this story. But it doesn't really end here. Hidden is the next story. I'd link you to it here, but I don't think it will let me, so you'll just have to go onto my profile and look for it, 'kay? And tell me if you liked this story. That'd be uber helpful too. 


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